Mill for rolling shapes.



L. R. GUSTER,

MILL FOR ROLLING SHAPES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1906.

929,400. Patented July 27, 1909.

ANDREW. s. GRAMM co. mmunwummiflt, wssunmron. a c.

LOUIS R. GUSTER, OF MUNHALL, PENNSYLVANIA.

MILL FOR ROLLING SHAPES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS R. CUsTEn, of Munhall, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mills for Rolling Shapes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rolling mill, showing three stands of three-high rolls, and constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the same. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the rolls showing their vertical centers staggered or out of the same vertical plane.

The object of my invention is to provide means by which the power required to drive such mills is greatly reduced and in which loss of power caused by friction due to sli ping between the meeting faces of the rol s and the blank being reduced between them is avoided.

Another object of my invention is to provide means by which one of the rolls is positively driven, the remaining rolls being caused to rotate by contact with the blank between the faces of the rolls.

It also consists in arranging the rolls of each train in such manner as to have the vertical center of themiddle roll out of line with the vertical centers of the top and of the bottom roll. A

I'Ieretofore in the operation of three-high rolling mills for rolling flanged metal shapes it has always been the practice to positively drive all of the rolls in such roll train. It being practically impossible to have all of the rolls positively driven and of the same diameter in any one stand of rolls, this has resulted in the surface speed of the rolls being different. When a blank is being rolled between such rolls, the difference in the surface speed causes one or another of the rolls to slip on the surface of the blank between them, which results in the expenditure of a large amount of power necessary to overcome the friction between the slipping faces. This also results in the rapid wear of the rolls, decreasing the life of the rolls and increasing the cost of maintaining the mill.

Another object of my invention is to overcome these difficulties and to provide means by which the power used in driving such mills is greatly reduced and in which the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 22, 1905.

Patented July 27, 1909.

Serial No. 261,499.

surface speed of the rolls betweenwhich the metal is reduced is equal, and loss of power dueto friction caused by slipping between the faces of such rolls and the metal between them is avoided.

In the drawings, 2, 2 are the housings, 3

the top roll, 4 the middle and 5 the bottom roll of the roughing stand of rolls; 6, 6 are the housings; 7, 8, 9 therolls of the inter mediate stand, 10, 10 the housings, and 11, 12, 13 the rolls of a finishing stand of rolls. As shown in Fig. 1,.the three stands of rolls are in line with each other, with the middle rolls 4, 8 12 connected together by means of the usual spindles 14 and coupling boxes 15. The middle roughin roll 4 is also connected by the leading spindle '16 and coupling boxes 17 to the shaft 18 of a steam engine or other suitable driving motor. The middle roughing roll 4 is positively driven through the spindle 16 and in turn positively drives the middle roll 8 of the intermediate stand and through it, the middle roll 12 of the finishing stand. The top rolls 3, 7 and 11 and the bottom rolls 5, 9 and 13 are not connected together, and are caused to rotate by contact with the blank being reduced between them and the positively driven middle rolls. The rolls are grooved to conform to the flanged shapes to be rolled in them.

When rolls, having different diameters are arranged with their centers in the same vertical plane, the metal being reduced between them will curve upwardly or downwardly around the roll having the smaller diameter as it issues from between therolls. To prevent this and cause the metal to issue horizontally from between the rolls, guides are employed which are located on the delivery side of the roll passes. Frequently these guides are broken by the strain put upon them, and when such guides break there is great danger of the metal bending and forming a collar on the roll, resulting in breaking the roll or making it necessary to change the rolls in order to remove the collar from the roll.

By arranging the rolls, as is shown in Fig. 3, with the vertical centers of the frictionally driven rolls 3 and 5 in front of the vertical center of the driving roll 4 in the direction of rotate by contact with-themetal between. them and the positively driven middle rolls," all of the rolls in each stand are caused torotate at the same surface speed and slipping between the metal and the surfaces of the rolls is prevented. This reduces the wear and largely increases the life of the rolls.

As the to and bottom rolls are driven frictionally tie diameter of these rolls can be made larger than the diameter of the positively driven middle roll and in this way the power required to drive the mill is greatly reduced. 7

The roughing rolls are shown with agroove in the top and bottom of the pass. By soconstructing the passes 'in'these rolls, I am enabled to roll the shapesfrom either a flat era square blank, in the same set of rolls. When a square blank is used it is inserted in the pass with two of its opposite corners perpendicular to the axes of the rolls, one

of the two ridges formed on the blank in these passes being afterward removed in passing through the later passes. "When desired the rolls may be constructed to reduce flat blanks only, in which case the passes are shaped similarly to the idle passes shown in the drawings.

The useo'l driving pinions for posltlvely driving the rolls and of spindles and coupling-boxes to connect the top rolls together and bottom rolls together, is dispensed with,

rolls is increased.

'The top and bottom rolls being revolved I bycontact with the blank between them and the positivelydriven middle roll, the rolls will all rotate at the same surface speed regardless of their relative diameters.

The arrangement of the rolls may be changed and my invention may be applied to asingle stand of rolls or to the rolls of a continuous mill, the rolls in each stand may have their centers in the same vertical plane, and other variations in their construction and arrangement may be made within the scope of my invention, since What I claim is 1. A rolling mill for rolling shapes comprising a roll having positive driving means, and a second roll arranged to be rotated by contact with a'blank between the rolls, at least one of said rolls being grooved and the center of the driven roll being out of line vertically with the'center of the other roll; substantially as described. r

2. A three-high rolling mill comprising a middle roll having positive driving means, and top and bottom rolls arranged to be rotated by contact with a blank between the rolls, at least one of said rolls being grooved, and the vertical center of the middle roll being out of line with the vertical centers of the top and bottom rolls; substantially as described.

3. A three-high rolling mill comprising a ositively driven middle roll, and top and ottom rolls, the centers of said top and bottom rolls being out ofvertical alinement 'with the middle roll, and with each other;

substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

' LOUIS R. (DUSTER.

Witnesses:

O. L. WILsON, W. A. KELLY. 

